Report: China's Refusal to Allow More U.S. Movies into Country to Cost Hollywood up to $500 Million

12 Feb 2014

Hollywood continues to placate China in the hopes of generating more ticket revenue from the populous nation. The industry allows Chinese censors to trim footage out of films like Django Unchained and shoots sequences specifically with Chinese audiences in mind as with Iron Man 3.

The result? A healthy new revenue stream that will impact the direction of movie product.

What Hollywood hasn’t been able to do, though, is convince country officials to allow more U.S. films to be shown in China.

The republic’s box office grew 27 percent last year to $3.6 billion and analysts predict it will soon become the biggest market for theatrical releases, but won’t get there faster by increasing foreign films: Despite mutterings that China was flirting with expanding foreign releases from 34 to 44, the country’s official Xinhua news agency said Tuesday that the film quota will remain firmly in place.

That could cost Hollywood studios between $350 million to $500 million in ticket sales, Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst of BoxOffice.com estimated to TheWrap.